Austria tries to revive European constitution

The European constitution will be taken out of the deep freeze today when Austria launches its six-month presidency of the EU with a pledge to try to revive it.

Less than a year after French and Dutch voters rejected the treaty, the Austrian government - which will launch its presidency today when it meets the European commission in Vienna - will declare that Europe cannot abandon such a "fascinating document". A "period of reflection", called after the French and Dutch no votes, will formally come to an end at the European summit in June.

Britain and the Netherlands, which believe the constitution was killed off by the referendums, had hoped that European leaders would formally deliver the last rites to the constitution in June. But Austria, supported by the new German chancellor, Angela Merkel, who takes over the EU presidency in a year's time, wants the constitution to be revived.

Ursula Plassnik, the Austrian foreign minister, said yesterday: "The constitutional process has slowed down over the last half year - it is now covered in a blanket of snow waiting for spring. So what we need is climate change. We have had massive blows to the European ego in 2005. I hope that now - having agreed on the [budget] - we will be moving into a more positive climate."

British leaders are wary of pronouncing the constitution dead, in the belief that the French president, Jacques Chirac, would then blame Britain for killing it off. Other leaders hope to revive some core elements, such as the creation of a permanent president of the council of ministers and a foreign minister.

Nicolas Sarkozy, France's interior minister who could assume his country's leadership next year, threw his weight behind the "cherry-picking" approach. In the centre-right European View journal, he wrote: "The draft constitutional treaty contains important advances which improve the functioning of Europe and would move towards a political union: a stable presidency of the union, a European minister of foreign affairs ... Our objective must be to implement these advances whilst respecting the democratic vote of the French people."

Javier Solana, who had been due to become the EU's foreign minister if the constitution was passed, adds in the Brussels magazine E!Sharp: "The sooner the elements that are contained in the constitution relating to the decision-making structure are put in place the better for the EU."

All sides want to break the impasse because there are fears that the EU may become paralysed, threatening enlargement, if it fails to agree a blueprint on how to run its affairs. But they disagree on how to proceed. Mrs Merkel is keen to revive the constitution because it would give Germany the largest share of votes in the council of ministers. Germany is one of 13 EU members to have ratified the measure, and talking up the constitution allows her to burnish her pro-European credentials. But Britain believes Europe has to focus on practical issues such as jobs before focusing on institutional reform.

The deadlock means that the initiative is likely to lie with France, and Mr Chirac has refused to give a categorical answer about what he will do.